Jan '09: What Are You Reading?

[Kill Zone]

I gave up on The Elfish Gene. Supposedly about growing up playing D&D, it's more about a guy blaming D&D for his own obsessions and downright wierdness. Unless you want to read the story of a disfunctional adolescent, avoid this one.

I was considering reading it, but hearing this I'm gonna pass.

 

[Croesus]

I was considering reading it, but hearing this I'm gonna pass.

Here's an extended quote from his first chapter. It should give you a good idea what's in store:

"For five years of my life between eleven and sixteen, I never stopped playing D&D, not even to eat. To this day, I eat one-handed. The other was always for a rule book, a fanzine or a fantasy novel. After that I played less frequently - maybe twice a week - until I was twenty. Today, other than for research for this book, I don't play at all. The legacy of the game, however, is still etched on my personality.

During the time I was playing, the nerds were my whole world. They were the people I learned to relate to while others were out talking to girls, getting sun tans, having various kinds of fun and even being bored - in short, growing up.

I knew far more about the wants and needs of a golden dragon than I ever did a girl. I was never bored, either. I was always waiting for the next game with a sense of intense anticipation, like most boys do when approaching a first date.

When I was at the gaming table I felt like I was plugged into the power grid, at an absolute peak of excitement and attention. I thought that anything that didn't give you that level of stimulation wasn't worth doing, which was a bit of a problem a few years later when it came to going to work. From what I've heard of other obsessions and addictions, they're similar, and people experience similar levels of difficulty getting over them. The details may differ, but at the root it's the same thing; an obsession is a way for damaged people to damage themselves more.

I've tried to overcome the influence my D&D years had on me and I hope I've made some progress. I have a wife I love and friends I try to treat as equals and not as competitors. Getting there's been a struggle, though. Even now I sometimes don't really feel like an adult, more a recovering adolescent."

 

[Krug]

Reading The Ultimate Dragon, an anthology about everyone's favourite beastie with contributions from a selection of authors including LeGuin and Silverberg. Not bad so far.

 

[Kill Zone]

Here's an extended quote from his first chapter. It should give you a good idea what's in store:

"For five years of my life between eleven and sixteen, I never stopped playing D&D, not even to eat. To this day, I eat one-handed. The other was always for a rule book, a fanzine or a fantasy novel. After that I played less frequently - maybe twice a week - until I was twenty. Today, other than for research for this book, I don't play at all. The legacy of the game, however, is still etched on my personality.

During the time I was playing, the nerds were my whole world. They were the people I learned to relate to while others were out talking to girls, getting sun tans, having various kinds of fun and even being bored - in short, growing up.

I knew far more about the wants and needs of a golden dragon than I ever did a girl. I was never bored, either. I was always waiting for the next game with a sense of intense anticipation, like most boys do when approaching a first date.

When I was at the gaming table I felt like I was plugged into the power grid, at an absolute peak of excitement and attention. I thought that anything that didn't give you that level of stimulation wasn't worth doing, which was a bit of a problem a few years later when it came to going to work. From what I've heard of other obsessions and addictions, they're similar, and people experience similar levels of difficulty getting over them. The details may differ, but at the root it's the same thing; an obsession is a way for damaged people to damage themselves more.

I've tried to overcome the influence my D&D years had on me and I hope I've made some progress. I have a wife I love and friends I try to treat as equals and not as competitors. Getting there's been a struggle, though. Even now I sometimes don't really feel like an adult, more a recovering adolescent."

WOW. Well, in that case, D&D was a stepping stone in his life, a learning experience. The positive is that he knew he had a problem with the game and managed to come out of his shell.

Instead of seeing D&D as a negative, he should see it as a positive.

 

[love.christine]

Eclipse by R.N. Patterson.

 

[Wombat]

A friend just gifted me with an intriguing series of novellas -- 2666 by Roberto Bolaño. It's not quite a mystery, it's not quite magical realism, but it is 100% fascinating!

 

[drothgery]

Currently re-reading Weber's Honorverse books. The last of Bujold's Sharing Knife books hits hardcover and the last of Moon's Vatta's War books hits paperback at the end of the month, though, so I re-read those series last month.

Following up on this...

Both series came to a very satisfying conclusion in their final volume (which you pretty much expect with Lois McMaster Bujold, whereas with Elizabeth Moon it's just likely). Lois bills the Sharing Knife books as a romance/fantasy hybrid (so my inclination if anyone else had written them -- except maybe Jacqueline Carey-- would be to stay far, far away), but they're very well-written, with two very detailed subcultures interacting with each other.

And although the Vatta's War books were a 'buy in paperback' series for me, not a 'buy in hardcover', they're another good space commerce and war series, which works for me.

And I'm not quite done with the Honorverse re-read yet.

 

[Crothian]

A complete list of books I've read can be found periodically in my live journal.

I've been reading the Narnia books, one left in that series. They are short fast reads but very creative. I've enjoyed them and wish I'd read them before my Changeling campaign not after. I've been slowing going through the Anita Blake novels. I just finished the Obsidian Butterfly which I'm told is the best one so far. I believe that after reading that.

The book I am currently reading is a Season for Slaughter, the 4th Chtorr book. Excellent series and great science fiction. The only issue I may have is the series was never finished so it's going to be left hanging after this book.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Its not fiction, but I just finished Paco Underhill's Call of the Mall yesterday, the followup to his amazing Why We Buy.

They are an examination of why stores are arranged the way they are, why ads look the way they do, why certain colors get chosen, etc. And all presented in an easy-to-read writing style, very engaging and not dry at all.

If nothing else, you will never look at shopping the same way again. Reading those books will help you (the consumer) figure out how you're being manipulated, and how you (the retailer) can improve sales.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Buy-Science-Shopping/dp/0684849143]Amazon.com: Why We Buy: The Science Of Shopping: Paco Underhill: Books[/ame]

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Call-Mall-Geography-Shopping-Author/dp/0743235924/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b]Amazon.com: Call of the Mall: The Geography of Shopping by the Author of Why We Buy: Paco Underhill: Books[/ame]

 

[S. Baldrick]

Wizards: Magical Tales from the Masters of Modern Fantasy which is a collection of short stories about, you guessed it, wizards. Among the authors are Orson Scott Card, Gene Wolf and Neil Gaiman.